20th Century-Fox Dynamo (September 2, 1939)

4 NEW DYNAMO “RAINS” PREMIERE AT THE R OXY ON F RIDAY Pre-Released Also At Mansfield, Ohio, Louis Bromfield’s Home Town On Saturday—Negative Arrives In New York FOURTH WEEKS POP UP FO R “STAN LEY” Zanuck’s “Stanley and Livingstone” continues to flabbergast showmen everywhere with its extraordinary power to keep grosses at maximum in holdover weeks. At press-time New Dynamo was informed by four different branches that this thrilling spectacle was holding over for a fourth week. Chicago indicated the picture might hold over for six weeks. Its moveover to the Apollo produced sensational results. — j BIG STORE'S "HOTEL" DISPLAY i Department and fashion stores all over the nation tied in j = with local campaigns on “Elsa Maxwell’s Hotel For Women.” I All of the major stores in New York. Saks, Macy’s, Gimble j and others had window displays while the Cosmopolitan j production was at the Roxy. Helow a window' display at j j Saks’ 34th Street (New York) store. With “Stanley and Livingstone” amazing showmen with the drawing power it is displaying in holdover weeks throughout the country, the eyes of the sales personnel were being focussed on next Friday (Sept. 8) when Zanuck’s greatest production, “The Rains Came,” will be given its world premiere showing at the Roxy theatre in New York. Costing fully $2,500,000 to produce, this picturization of Louis Bromfield’s best seller is the most important assignment the field force has ever received. Following the world-premiere in New York it is slated for a wholesale number of dav-and-date showings in several hundred major cities in the United States, staring with Sept. 15, which is its official national release date. Meantime, in New York late this week arrived the negative of this widely heralded super special starring Tyrone Power, Myrna Lov, George Brent and marking the de- but of Brenda Joyce. The negative was rushed to the laboratory so that a maxi- mum number of prints can be made to meet the demand of exhibitors for showings starting on its release date. Mr. Wobber cautioned all branches that a strict sur- veillance must be main- tained in the handling of this production. Mr. Zanuck looked forward to an elabo- rate campaign to herald its premiere in New York. Pub- licity and Advertising Di- rector Charles E. McCarthy was supervising this cam- paign. On the Coast this week-end arrangements were being made for a press preview of “The Rains Came.” Some 350 news- paper and magazine correspon- dents representing thousands of publications all over the world were to be at this screening, ac- cording to word from studio Publicity Director Harry Brand on Friday. Already, “The Rains Came” has received considerable ad- vance publicity. Especially has this been fact where the nation- ally circulated pictorial maga- zines have been concerned. Full- page multi-colored ads will her- ald the picture’s release in hun- dreds of newspaper’s featuring the American Weekly and This Week, which claim a circulation running into many millions. NEW STAR Big in every way, in story, thrill contents and starpower, “The Rains Came” is awaited anxiously for another reason, the introduction of a new star, Brenda Joyce. This newcomer promises to play a major part in the com- pany’s future product, according to the plans made by Zanuck. Even before her first picture has been released she plays the femi- nine lead in another important production, “Here I Am a Stranger,” appearing opposite Richard Greene in a cast that also includes Gladys George, Richai’d Dix, Roland Young and others. Also she has been given an important and featured role in the Technicolor super special, “Little Old New York” in which Alice Faye, Richard Greene and Fred MacMurray are co-starred and that Henry King, who made “Stanley and Livingstone,” “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” “Jesse James” and “In Old Chi- cago,” will direct. In “The Rains Came,” Miss Joyce appears mainly opposite George Brent in one of three dif- ferent romances revealed by Louis Bromfield’s story. It was her performance in “The Rains Came” that prompted Zanuck to make ambitious plans for her future porti’ayals. BROMFIELD’S HOME TOWN IS BOOKED Eastern Division Manager William Sussman announced Fri- day, that “The Rains Came” would be pre-released at the Ohio theatre in Mansfield, O., on Saturday (Sept. 9). There will positively be no other pre-release engagements, according to Mr. Wobber’s or- ders. The Mansfield, O., pre-release engagement was arranged in view of the fact that that city is Author Louis Bromfield’s home- town. He will personally be present at the opening, accord- to word from Nate Wolf, circuit district manager. The premiere there will be a civic event, according to plans already made with the mayor and other officials on hand. The two newspapers there already have been lined up and, in fact, have been featuring considerable publicity on “The Rains Came” for several months. Bromfield has been in Mans- field ever since the completion of his screenplay on “Brigham Young,” which Zanuck plans put- ting into production next month. A total of seven third-weeks was reported by five ex- changes. There may he more, but those seven were offi- cially reported as being set late Thursday night. Reports from the small-towns and subsequent run situa- tions where “Stanley and Livingstone” got under way embodied box office statements as rich as those that have told the story of extraordinary conquests in the larger first-run situations. More thrn 90 per cent of the engagements started in the past several weeks held over, according to a New Dynamo survey. This produced a print problem in some situations. In others longer runs were prevented because of prior bookings of prints in engagements that contractually had to get under way. To handle the great business and print demand resultant from the sensational success of “Stanley and Livingstone” branches have had to resort to whole borrowing of prints among themselves. Exactly 53 engagements originally booked for four days, small towns, were stretched into full-week runs. In 11 instances, the managers were asking for a further extension. In some cases, the picture already has been booked for a return engagement, according to bookers’ letters to this publication. All in all, the field is making maximum capital of the clamor stirred up by “Stanley and Livingstone,” which is generally far outgrossing every opposition. Branch reports showed it continued to challenge the records piled up by two other Henry King directed specials, “Alexander’s Rag- time Band” and “Jesse James.” In many cities, “Stanley and Liv- ingstone” outgrossed both of those smash-hits, the official box office returns showed. Mr. Wobber’s observations on “Elsa Maxwell’s Hotel for Women” spurred managers, salesmen, bookers and adsales managers to greater surveillance of the local exploitation of that Cosmopolitan production. Reports on the first three showings of “The Adventures of Sher- lock Holmes” were that this mystery special was being even more enthusiastically received than was “The Hound of Baskervilles.” Although given no unusual advance handling, in the three situations played this picture, too, was thriving on word-of-mouth praise of patrons who had seen it. Exhibitor reports were excellent and the newspaper notices superlative from every angle, with the perform- ances of Basil Rathbone, Nigel Bruce, Ida Lupino and Alan Mar- shall highly praised—and particularly those of the first two men- tioned stars. j East Widens Margin of Lead Over Rivals on Sale of Movietone News I The East continues to outsell West and Central on Movie- tone News, according to the latest official figures. That is primarily due to the results being obtained by Moss’ At- lantics. The Atlantics lead their nearest district rival, Rob- erts’ Mideast, by 10.3. Cohn’s Pittsburgh still paces the branches, with Wheeler’s Washington now its stiffest opposi- tion. The two are parted by 3.4 points. Gross’ Philadelphia climbed from 10th to sixth place. Charlotte, St. Louis, Min- neapolis, San Francisco, Boston, Indianapolis, New Haven, Buffalo, New Orleans, New' York, Chicago and Montreal also made fine place gains.